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Movie Reviews

Reviewed by stormfury7 / 10

Not bad, but not great

The complete first half hour was completely unnecessary, it may have
intended to add emotional weight to when Barbara got shot, but the
studio could have encapsulated that in a much better way. The main
antagonist of the film failed to show up until half way through the
movie which made the first half utterly boring. In addition, the
needless sexualization of Batgirl and her 'special' relationship with
Batman was also among the list of unnecessary items that were in this
movie, this also contributed to ruining the characterization of Batman.
The Joker was on point as one would usually expect. However, in
summation the movie fails to capture the magic that the comic presented
us with.

Reviewed by MisterWhiplash6 / 10

the mixed bag joke

It may seem like this is a high rating given the backlash DC animated
The Killing Joke has received, however this is an averaged out rating.
In honesty this isn't a very good movie, despite the fact that when
the filmmakers and adapter Brian Azzarello (do I hasten to call him a
'screenwriter' after this one credit?) stick to the original Alan Moore
source it's a dark and involving delight. It's what comes before it,
how they make it into a "full movie" that things fall apart. This is a
schizophrenic experience full of high highs, generic lows and some what
the almighty Jesus bloody hell for good measure.

And I get what they tried to do or felt they had to do as far as making
it a complete experience as a 75 minute film. Barbara Gordon, aka
Batgirl, is more of a plot device in the comic (spoiler? Joker shoots
and paralyzed her before kidnapping Commissioner for his amusement park
nightmare games), so to flesh out her backstory with Batman is good. On
paper. Actually, not on this paper, as it turns into a half hour story
where Batgirl is chasing after a ho-Hum "charming" criminal who I don't
even recall in the comics (if he was in it he's certainly not
memorable) and it's all here to make it a Batgirl story with Batman
mostly as the ornery father figure...

Which makes that 'thing' that happens between them so jarring; if this
was squarely a batman/batgirl story theoretically it could go somewhere
)I'm not saying it's a good idea in most any context, again those like
Robin or Batgirl are more like the kids to Batman not those he gets uh
down n dirty with). But Azzarello crams it in where it doesn't fit and
if anything makes the motivations for what comes in the actual Killing
Joke story hamfisted. Not to mention how it's presented is silly
especially given what room is open with an R rating (the first for any
Batman film, ironically you could show this to most kids 12 and up and
it'd be fine).

Despite this troubling and/or just typical Batman/Batgirl story that
squanders potential with really delving into backstory the comic hinted
at, or because of it, when that second half of the film kicks in to
gear and we get the story of the comic it'S presented largely
faithfully and the genius and power of that story comes through; the
Joker as a 'sympathetic' being with his own origin story which, by the
end, is satisfying as its own story and is brilliant as a circumspect
narrative from an unreliable storyteller.

I may also be a sucker for Hamill as the Joker but how can one not be
when he always sinks his teeth in and makes him a real PRESENCE in a
room? Adding to this he creates a good, relatable voice for
pre.transformation Joker in the flashbacks and we get drawn in to his
story in large part because that voice acting comes through. The
animation is also top notch (as far as the limited budget allows), and
some moments in that fun-house/amusement park are shown to be iconic
for a reason; if you get any allusions to the Burton 89 Batman there's
a reason for that.

I think my high rating is due to finding that main story so compelling
- what a hero or villain means when they have to face existential
questions and how they relate to one another through "one bad day"
(interestingly though Moore recently says he doesn't like his own work
here I find he underrated it, that he got under the skin of these
iconic figures to show them as people). So I wanted it to be great,
and it flirts with being as strong as the first part of the Dark Knight
Returns movie or even Mask of the Phantasm. But that first half hour
drags it into a murky, middle feeling where overall you come away
saying 'it's alright, I guess,' with an ambiguous ending not landed
with the weight that's required either.

Reviewed by RenCatReviews4 / 10

A bland retelling of a powerful novel

One of the most acclaimed graphic novels of all time has now come to
the big screen. Not only is this one of the most acclaimed novels ever
but it's one of the most controversial. The story is basically an
origin tale for the infamous Batman villain, The Joker. When this movie
was initially announced back at the beginning of 2016 there was some
serious hype surrounding it. Especially when it received an R rating.
One thing that really made me nervous though was how quickly this
actually released. Obviously, it could've been in production long
before it was announced back at the beginning of the year, but after
seeing the film, I don't think that's the case.

The first thirty minutes of the film is a kind of prelude involving,
mostly, Batgirl. It talks about how she came to quit being said
superhero and draws a thread between her and Batman. Now, this story is
controversial for a reason. Not only does it explore tough themes but
it shows the details of these horrible things. The story in the graphic
novel is brutal, uncompromising, and pretty tough to get through.

However the film is just the opposite. It tries hard to retell the
story seen in the novel, yet any emotional drama is all but lost. This
mainly has to do with the length of the film itself. Being only 80
minutes, it's rather short. As I said, the first thirty minutes
revolves around Batgirl. And this segment of time is absolutely the
worst to sit through. It's tedious, overly long, and so cliché and
predictable that there's nothing remotely enjoyable.

While, this part of the film is undoubtedly the worst from a
storytelling standpoint, there are a number of things that remained
consistently bad throughout. Most notably was the animation. From a
studio like Warner Bros you'd expect some decent art work, but not
here. The back drops nor art design is well put together. It's clunky,
with no style to be found.

It looks like they took the animation from a rough draft of the
animated series and colored it in. This issue becomes even more clear
whenever it attempts 3D animation. The other blaring issue that
continues through the film is the music. Which is completely contrived
and formulated to the point of it being so cliché that is, in fact not
cliché.

As the film ended, a crowd that once cheered for the lights dimming,
was left in stunned silence. Not a good stunned silence like you get
after watching 'Gone Girl', this type of silence is the kind where
people don't know what they just saw. For me, this had to do with the
complete lack of any emotional resonance. When it attempts to recreate
the power of the novel it fails.

It doesn't commit enough to the drama of the story. Even with its R
rating it doesn't draw the same toughness the novel does. It lacks the
rawness that the novel has to make it's audience queasy. It's not
graphic enough to be disturbing and it's not lighthearted enough to be
fun. It just bounces from scene to scene with little connecting one to
another. The best way to describe it is that it goes from this scene to
that scene and than it ends. That's about it. ​This is one film that
should have been great. All the pieces are there. It has a great studio
behind it, an excellent voice team, and a brilliant story. But it lacks
the emotional power that the novel has. Even though it has its R rating
it doesn't fully commit to it, or anything for that matter. Without
coherent direction and the overall first draft vibe of the film it's
hardly the experience we've been lead to believe it is.